Bipartisan lawmakers push to save EPA greenhouse gas program
E&E DAILY | Congressional lawmakers are pushing back on Trump administration plans to end greenhouse gas reporting requirements for top polluters.
At least one Republican has joined the flurry of members wanting the administration to save the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP), which has tracked the climate emissions of major polluters for the last 15 years.
The pressure campaign comes as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle see potential compromise related to tariffs against dirty imports.
Sens. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), ranking member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, joined forces in a letter to EPA. They called the reporting program necessary to demonstrate that American exports are cleaner than global competitors like China.
The senators specifically pointed to the liquefied natural gas and carbon capture and storage sectors as industries that benefit from the reporting.
"In the fifteen years of the GHGRP’s existence, American industry and energy production has used this program to demonstrate where we are cleaner than the global competition," the duo wrote.
"While Republican and Democratic Senators may not always agree on EPA actions, we support the collection of information that improves the global competitiveness of American industry,” they added.
Cramer has championed the "Providing Reliable, Objective, Verifiable Emissions Intensity and Transparency (PROVE IT) Act" to study the carbon footprint of certain U.S. exports. The goal was to show they are cleaner than competitors.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) is similarly championing legislation to implement a fee on polluting imports. Conservatives have compared it to a carbon tax, but Cassidy says his proposal complements President Donald Trump's tariff regime.
"My Foreign Pollution Fee will be a powerful tool to bring American manufacturing HOME, lower trade barriers, and protect American jobs!" Cassidy said in a recent X post.
Numerous energy trade groups and affected companies have also advocated for the federal greenhouse gas reporting requirements to continue. It appears unlikely they'll succeed.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced in September that major polluters no longer had to report. The Democrats' Inflation Reduction Act implemented a fee on oil and gas methane emissions, but the One Big Beautiful Bill Act delayed enforcement.
Zeldin said that the reporting program, which began collecting data in 2010, is "nothing more than bureaucratic red tape that does nothing to improve air quality."
Beyond Cramer and Whitehouse, 30 House Democrats called the program's end "a direct attack on America’s public health, environment, scientific integrity, and economic growth."
"As Members of Congress, we urge EPA to preserve and strengthen the GHGRP knowing the important role it plays to protect hardworking American families and the value it has for businesses and investors," the group wrote.
On Friday, another group of House Democrats affiliated with the the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition wrote to Zeldin urging him to maintain the program. That letter, led by Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) and other SEEC leaders, claimed that EPA was violating congressional directives by ending GHGRP.
“The elimination of the GHGRP represents yet another example of the Trump Administration’s censorship of scientific data, while simultaneously threatening statutory obligations, jeopardizing taxpayers’ ability to claim certain energy tax credits, weakening American competitiveness in global markets, and depriving American businesses and investors of the credible data they rely on for decision-making,” the SEEC members wrote.
An EPA spokesperson said it was reviewing the feedback.